EXPLORING YOUR HISTORY BEYOND CHINATOWN

Discover your personal history of the neighborhood where you live
and work. Use the following questions and activities as catalysts for
exploring and recording the history of your family and community.

QUESTIONS FOR FAMILY VIEWERS

When did your family immigrate here? Why?

What are your family members' most memorable experiences about immigrating
to the United States?

How do the immigration experiences of your family compare to the
experiences of present-day immigrants?

How many ethnic groups can you identify in your community? What is
their history and their present-day role within your community?

ACTIVITIES FOR SCHOOL AND ORGANIZATIONS

Interview senior citizens from various ethnic groups and produce
an oral history of your community. Illustrate the history with photographs
from family albums.

Choose a critical time in your neighborhood's history and produce
a newspaper, including relevant news articles, editorial columns and
cartoons of the day.

Create a cross-cultural food festival and explore the origins of
ethnic cuisines in your community.

Have a contest for the best poem of short story about the experience
of an immigrant moving to your community.

Write and produce a play illustrating key events in your community's
history.

Create a " living museum " tour consisting of sites of key events
in your community's history.

Research the poets and authors who lived in and/or wrote about your
community and produce a reading of their works.

Have a musical night featuring artists from different cultural groups
in your community.